Invincible Iron Man #25

Well, at least Matt Fraction didn't totally back-pedal Tony Stark out of supporting the Registration Act. Instead, when Thor confronts Tony on the subject, Tony defends his decisions as what he thought was best at the time. He does mutter than he might do things differently, but at the time he did what he thought was best. I liked the scene because it is the start of a reconciliation between Thor and Iron Man, it needed to happen. The two couldn't be teammates without some kind of moment, so this was needed. I liked Thor's offer to re-fill Tony's bank accounts too. (Tony's refusal makes sense too, he wants to do it his way.)

I was surprised to see the Hammer ladies set up as rivals to Stark Industries' weapons division, since I thought Tony was out of that business since about Iron Man 200. I think this could be an attempt to create some synergy with the upcoming Iron Man 2 movie, so Tony can re-make this announcement to match what he's doing in the film, but I'm not sure. In any case, the Hammer heirs seem like they will be fun antagonists. They are certainly rich and smart enough to cause problems for Stark. I don't have an exact take on Detroit Steel yet, he seems a bit rash and sexist, so I'm sure he's bad, but I can't tell for certain what his goals are.

I really enjoyed the way Fraction played Tony Stark's supporting cast. Jim Rhodes, Maria Hill, Pepper Potts, they are all great characters for Stark to bounce off of. (I'll also add I'm happy Rhodey isn't a cyborg anymore, that was unnecessary). Fraction's idea that Stark never backed up his memories after Extremis is pretty interesting, my favorite part being the whole Stark is faking it idea. It is so in character for Stark to pretend and play along that he knows something even if he just read about it in the paper or a magazine. I am sad that Stark has totally lost the memory of his good friend Happy Hogan's death. That's a bummer.

Now for the most important thing: the new armor. I like it well enough, it has the whole Iron Man look. I prefer the more bulky suits (the Silver Centurion and post-Armor Wars being my two faves) but this is ok. I'm hoping we get some more smashing in upcoming issues, it seems like this comic spends more time with Stark than with Iron Man.

Salvador LaRocca is still photo-referencing the crap out of everything which takes away a little of the "fun" of an Iron Man title. Things seem to still, but it actually works with the realistic story, for right now. The designs for the Hammer ladies is interesting, they don't look different enough for me to tell them apart yet. I do like the design of Detroit Steel.

The storylines have a lot of potential, so I'll go with Good, but I need more armored smashing to maintain that grade. Bring on Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, Blizzard, Whiplash, Spymaster, or somebody!

Good